613 

■M4 



ALLIED and 
AMERICAN 



PEACE 
TERMS 



SAMUEL A. B. MERCER 




Class J) (pJJ3 
Book__J 4 



ALLIED AND AMERICAN 
PEACE TERMS 



Allied and American 
Peace Terms 

As Seen by a Linguist 



By 

Samuel A. B. Mercer, Ph.D., D.D. 

Professor of Semitic Languages, in the 

Western Theological Seminary, Chicago, 

and Editor of the Journal of the Society 

of Oriental Research 



The Young Churchman Co. 

Milwaukee 
1918 



-$£> 



\1 



vA^ 



TO 

H. M. M. 

'Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind' 






PREFACE 

NO thinking person can remain silent 
in the present world conflict; he 
will deliver himself in private conversa- 
tions, in public lectures, or in print. 
The author of the present study believes 
that what he has to say may be of inter- 
est to a wider public than that which can 
be reached through the spoken word. 
His linguistic training has led him to 
emphasize the part which language 
plays in the formation of nationality 
and the part it must play in the develop- 
ment of internationalism. He realizes 
also that with language must be asso- 
ciated the functions of geography, poli- 
tics, and history, as determinants of 
nationality, in the growth of social 
groups and in the ultimate development 



VI 



PREFACE 



of a world group. He has tried to sug- 
gest that a just and lasting peace will be 
a world peace if these determinants of 
nationality can be translated into inter- 
national terms. 

The words of President Wilson and 
Premier Lloyd George quoted in the 
following pages are taken from reports 
of their recent speeches of January the 
eighth and the fifth respectively. 

April, 1918. 



CONTENTS 

I. Introduction 1 

II. War and Peace 5 

III. The Application 14 

IV. Towards a Just and Lasting Peace . . 54 



INTRODUCTION 

AFTER the guns have ceased to fire, 
the cannon to roar, and the soldiers 
to fight, will come the most critical 
period in the new world order in which 
we are to live. Statesmen will meet to 
inaugurate peace and to plan for the 
future. Keen insight and high purpose 
should prevail if peace is to be just and 
lasting. The mistakes of the past must 
not be repeated. As Lloyd George has 
just said: "We can no longer submit 
the future of European civilization to 
the arbitrary decisions of a few negoti- 
ators trying to secure by chicanery or 
persuasion the interests of this or that 
dynasty or nation." What Lloyd 



2 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

George has said in direct reference to 
European civilization is true of the 
world, for with a disrupted Europe the 
world can never be secure, but with the 
problems of Europe justly and endur- 
ingly settled world peace is a possibility. 
The first task of statesmen will be to 
take steps to remove the provocation of 
war. To do that it is fundamental that 
a positive step be first taken. This will 
consist in the recognition of the deter- 
minants of nationality. As far as pos- 
sible each nation must be accorded its 
natural rights in order to avoid inter- 
national irritation which is the ultimate 
cause of all war. The determinants of 
nationality are language, geography, 
politics, and history. A linguistic group 
with definite geographical barriers, with 
regulated politics, and with an histor- 
ical background, is a national unit. It 
has a right to self-government and self- 
determination, and should be interna- 
tionally protected in this right. These 



PEACE TERMS 3 

criteria of nationality are reasonable 
and just to all and should be applied to 
all nations alike. Their observance is 
necessary to stability. 

It must be remembered that religion 
is not a criterion of nationality, and 
should not be allowed to protrude itself 
in the determination of nationality. 
Religion must be free, and unlimited by 
national barriers. It should not be used 
to define nationality, and nationality 
should not be allowed to limit it. 

After a satisfactory delimitation of 
nationality, the free nations thus formed 
should concern themselves with the wel- 
fare of those undeveloped peoples who 
are not yet capable of self-government. 
Such undeveloped peoples should be 
entrusted to the care of those stronger 
nations which have proved themselves 
efficient in the protection of the weak, 
with a view to developing, as soon as 
possible, the power of self-government 
inherent in all peoples. 



4 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

In the new world order in which we 
are now preparing to live, violence 
should not be used to settle disputes be- 
tween free nations any more than be- 
tween individuals. National irritation 
must be removed by making the deter- 
minants of nationality operative, inter- 
national law must be re-sanctified, and 
a confederation of free and liberty- 
loving nations must be formed, as a 
police force, until a world Common- 
wealth is realized. 



II 

WAR AND PEACE 

WAR is usually caused by an irrita- 
tion of the sense of nationality. 
Nations, like individuals, have their 
desires and ambitions, their responsi- 
bilities and rights. Whatever tends to 
thwart or irritate these makes for inter- 
national strife. 

The first step toward peace is a recog- 
nition of the fact of nationality. A 
nation is defined not by race, but by lin- 
guistic, geographical, historical, and 
political conditions. France is a nation 
because it is a unit linguistically, geo- 
graphically, historically, and politically ; 
but not because of race, for the inhabi- 
tants of France are not a unit racially. 



6 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

They are a mixture of the three chief 
races of Europe, namely, the Alpine, the 
Mediterranean, and the Nordic. And if 
it be asserted that there is such a thing 
as a French "race", even then nation- 
ality could not be determined by race, 
for there are French people other than 
those living in France. There is no such 
thing as a pure race in any European 
country ; the three great races fused into 
different groups of European peoples 
long ago. This being so, there is no 
race consciousness in Europe — a fact 
which compels us to disregard it as a 
basis for nationality. But Europe con- 
sists of a group of separate nations de- 
fined by language, geography, politics, 
and history. 

Language is the chief creator of 
nations. By means of literature it feeds 
the soul of a people and unifies them. 
Language not only creates national feel- 
ing but it also gives outward form to a 
people's ideals. People who speak the 



PEACE TERMS 7 

same language are bound by bonds 
which with care are capable of defying 
all barriers. A language can extend its 
arms over seas and continents, across 
rivers and mountains, and build up na- 
tional feeling. The native of Newfound- 
land feels the thrill of English national 
sentiment and responds to it as readily 
as does a Yorkshireman. No barrier 
can effectively break the chain of 
national love which binds him to the 
motherland. 

The unifying power of language, how- 
ever, is usually limited. Language does 
not always override geographical bar- 
riers, but usually combines with them in 
the formation and preservation of 
national unity. Linguistic areas are 
usually co-terminous with geographical 
boundaries. A glance at the map of 
Europe will show how true this is. The 
whole continent seems, with few excep- 
tions, to be cut up into definite linguistic 
areas which correspond to geographical 



8 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

barriers. Frenchmen sweep eastward 
till they are halted by the Vosges; 
Czechs are confined to a plateau enclosed 
by mountains. Geography and language 
go hand in hand in the formation of na- 
tional sentiment. They are the frontiers 
of national existence. In fact, the lin- 
guistic factor, depending upon com- 
munication, is based upon geographical 
foundations. A range of mountains or 
a watershed, even in these days of rapid 
transit, tends to strengthen the separat- 
ing power of difference of language. Its 
power was absolute in less favored 
times, when European nations w r ere in 
the process of formation. 

Politics and history also play an 
important part in the differentiation 
and growth of national feeling. In fact 
they are sometimes so powerful as to 
defy the unifying power of language and 
geography. Western Switzerland, both 
by language and geography, belongs 
to France, Northern Switzerland for 



PEACE TERMS 9 

the same reason belongs to Germany; 
and Southern Belgium belongs to 
France, if determined alone by language 
and geography. But politics and his- 
tory have so bound the different parts 
of Switzerland and of Belgium together 
that the force of language and geog- 
raphy have been overcome. The same 
may be true of the relationship between 
Germany and Austria. In other words, 
lines of nationality are sometimes drawn 
so sharply by political and historical 
circumstances that neither linguistic nor 
geographical influence, nor both com- 
bined, can obliterate them. National 
allegiance is formed and cannot be fore- 
sworn. 

In like manner, geographical barriers 
often give way to a combination of lin- 
guistic, political, and historical influ- 
ence. The Rocky Mountains will never 
divide the United States of America 
into two countries, nor will they divide 
Eastern from Western Canada. So also 



10 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

does language give way to a combination 
of geographical conditions, on the one 
hand, and political and historical influ- 
ences, on the other. Quebec is French 
in speech but it will probably never 
secede from the rest of Canada to which 
it is bound by geographical, political, 
and historical ties. 

In short, the determination of na- 
tional frontiers, if the frontiers are to 
be stable, is controlled by one or more 
of the national determinants, language, 
geography, politics, and history. But 
once a nation has been formed, in which 
there has developed a national spirit, no 
repressive measures will avail to stifle 
its sense of nationality; its submerged 
energies will insist on bursting forth. 
No amount of oppression will ever kill 
the national feeling of Poland, and no 
amount of coaxing will ever persuade 
Ireland that she is in essence anything 
else than Ireland. Of course, the poli- 
tics and history of a nation may be so 



PEACE TERMS 1 1 

interwoven with those of another which 
speaks the same language and from 
which there is no geographical frontier 
to separate it that its destiny may be 
inalienably wrapped up with that of the 
other nation. This is certainly true of 
Scotland and England. It is also true 
of Ireland and England. In both Scot- 
land and Ireland there is a distinct na- 
tional feeling, as deep and patriotic as 
that in England ; but the forces of lan- 
guage, geography, politics, and history 
are so strong as to make these three 
countries a unit of combined nationality, 
an essential confederation of states. 

The unit of world life is normally the 
nation; but time and experience will 
most likely create a greater unit, the 
commonwealth. A group of distinct 
nations, speaking the same language, 
and drawn together by politics and his- 
tory, where geographical obstacles are 
not insuperable, sometimes confederate, 
as in the case of the German States. In 



12 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

this case, time has had the effect of 
creating a larger unit of national life. 
The same is true, only in a more demo- 
cratic and ideal manner, of the common- 
wealth of free nations which we call the 
British Empire. Here is a group of 
nations, speaking the same language, 
related politically and historically, and 
not separated by impassable geograph- 
ical barriers, formed into a great con- 
federacy. The specific nationality of 
some of the units, Ireland, for example, 
is slower of amalgamation into the 
larger unit than that of the other units, 
but time will firmly cement the whole, 
and a larger unit of national life will be 
formed. 

No nation, however, can be success- 
fully forced into confederation. Its 
people are assumed to be free, self- 
respecting, and self -determining, whose 
national rights should never be violated. 
On the other hand, no nation need 
stand alone, but any may confederate 



PEACE TERMS 13 

with others for comfort and safety and 
thus contribute to the growth of the 
larger unit. 



Ill 

THE APPLICATION 

THE determinants of nationality 
thus outlined must form the basis 
of all international adjustments. After 
this war, when statesmen come to- 
gether to lay the foundations of future 
peace and intercourse, the mistakes of 
the Treaty of Vienna in 1815, which 
paid no attention to the legitimate 
claims of national independence, must 
not be repeated. The great problem will 
be the delimitation of international 
frontiers. To do the work in an endur- 
ing fashion the determinants of nation- 
ality will have to be the fundamental 
principle of action. Peoples will have 
to be grouped, so far as possible, accord- 



PEACE TERMS 15 

ing to the force of language, geography, 
politics, and history. If these factors 
are neglected the foundations of world 
peace will be insecure. 

The world is weary of war, but its 
weariness must not betray statesmen 
into erecting unscientific barriers which 
will not stand the test of natural growth. 
They must brush aside as completely as 
possible all personal and national de- 
sires which are contrary to the growth 
of independent national life, and set 
themselves to a partition of Europe on 
the basis of reason and justice. 

The criteria of the right of national 
independence must be language, geog- 
raphy, politics, and history. These will 
be found capable, if applied scientifi- 
cally and justly, of solving most diffi- 
culties of partition. In case, however, 
a nation shows a genuine disinclination 
to abide by the findings of the applica- 
tion of these determinants, the will of 
the people will have to be determined by 



16 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

the carrying out of a plebiscite under 
a just international supervision. 

The Allies realize, and the Central 
Empires are beginning to be persuaded, 
that a reasonable and just settlement of 
the international problem must be the 
main subject of a real peace. The Allies 
have already declared their intention 
of insisting upon the liberation of all 
peoples capable of self-government. 

Let us try to picture, in a general way, 
how Europe can be so partitioned as to 
insure national contentment and lasting 
peace. And let us begin with Belgium, 
which has endeared itself to the hearts 
of all lovers of liberty and justice. 

Linguistically and geographically, 
Belgium is not a separate nation. The 
South is French, the North is Teutonic ; 
and there is no great natural barrier 
separating Belgium from France on the 
South or from Germany on the North- 
east. But the forces of politics and his- 
tory have been so strong as to create a 



PEACE TERMS 17 

real unit of national life. And any ques- 
tion of disharmony between Flanders 
and Wallonia has been completely 
answered by the common suffering of 
the present conflict. History which is 
now being made so rapidly in that tragic 
country will never give way to language 
and geography but will bind the whole 
people with the iron bands of nation- 
ality. 

Belgium's history has been a very 
troublesome one just because of the dual 
tongue and the lack of effective geo- 
graphical barriers. The nation has been 
brought forth with the greatest diffi- 
culty. The two diverse languages and 
regions, Flanders the lowland, and Wal- 
lonia the upland, have lived side by side 
with greatest discord. The Treaty of 
Vienna linked Belgium up with Holland 
but the predominant French culture of 
Belgium broke the bonds. It would be a 
mistake to try to incorporate Belgium 
into any other nation whatever, even 



18 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

with Prance, in spite of the predominat- 
ing character of French culture in Bel- 
gium. Belgium has been born into the 
family of nations. She has national 
ideals and a national heart. She must 
stand alone. Her liberty must be guar- 
anteed. The Allies reasonably and 
justly insist upon her independence ; her 
political and historical life demands it, 
her linguistic and geographical char- 
acter permits it, and international peace 
will surely grant it. 

While there is a firm national feeling 
in Luxemburg, that feeling is not suffi- 
ciently strong to counteract the influence 
of language and geography which point 
to a logical inclusion of that country into 
the German confederacy. The language 
spoken in Luxemburg is a Low German 
dialect, and the broken surface of the 
Ardenne hilly region is not a sufficient 
barrier to separate her from Germany. 
However, in case there should be any 
disinclination on the part of Luxemburg 



PEACE TERMS 19 

to join the German confederacy, a ple- 
biscite should be instituted whereby the 
will of the people would be expressed. 
But Luxemburg, judged by the criteria 
which we have adopted, is predestined 
to belong to Germany. The same may 
be said of the territory of Moresnet, a 
little neutral state of less than four 
square miles in area. 

About the nationality of France, on 
the basis of our criteria, there is no 
doubt. Nor does there seem to be much 
doubt that not only Lorraine but also 
Alsace should be a part of France. An- 
other of the mistakes made by former 
treaties was the robbing of France of 
these two states. Linguistically and 
geographically Lorraine is a part of 
France. It is so politically and histor- 
ically. The treaty of Frankfort in 1871 
violated these natural ties, and nature 
will have her revenge. 

As to Alsace the case is not so clear. 
The physical features of Alsace mark it 



20 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

off from surrounding regions. Through- 
out the Middle Ages it was a province 
of German speech. In 1910 the census 
recorded over eight times as many Ger- 
man-speaking people as French. But 
the national feeling of Alsace is very 
strongly French, and that, with its polit- 
ical and historical life, will perhaps 
prove a stronger bond than that of lan- 
guage and geography, especially as the 
geographical features render it as sep- 
arable from Germany as from France. 
Consensus of international feeling 
strongly favors a return of Alsace to 
France, but in case of doubt a plebiscite 
of native-born Alsatians would settle 
the question. 

Switzerland's integrity as a nation 
cannot be questioned. Her political and 
historical life, strengthened by her 
physical features, preserves her a unit 
in spite of the diversity of the language 
of her people. The overwhelming ma- 
jority of German-speaking Swiss is just 



PEACE TERMS 21 

as loyal to Helvetia as are the French 
or the Italian-speaking inhabitants. 

Italy's rights have manifestly been 
violated by past treaties which were 
merely " arbitrary decisions of a few 
negotiators trying to secure by chicanery 
or persuasion the interests of this or 
that dynasty or nation ' ' (Lloyd George) . 
The Trentino belongs to Italy by all the 
rights of language, geography, politics, 
and history ; and no power of man can 
permanently keep her from it. 

Although Italian politics, history, 
and culture are supreme on the east 
shore of the Adriatic, there are eight 
times as many Slavs there as Italians. 
The nationality of this whole region will 
be difficult to determine. But statesmen 
will do well to bear in mind the determi- 
nants of nationality, and with due refer- 
ence to their comparative weight will 
most probably make a reasonable and 
just decision. But the question must be 
settled, and in a satisfactory manner, if 



22 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

permanent peace is to ensue. To this 
end the Allies have already dedicated 
themselves. President Wilson has just 
said: "A readjustment of all the fron- 
tiers of Italy should be effected along 
clearly recognizable lines of nation- 
ality". With reason and justice guided 
by the determinants of nationality, this 
end can be consummated. 

The Balkan situation is a puzzle. But 
if our criteria be observed, order can be 
restored. The provinces of Carniola and 
Illyria, on the borderland of Italy and 
Austria, must belong to one or the other 
of these two nations. The two provinces 
possess no marked political, historical, 
or geographical distinction, and are ap- 
parently not capable of self-govern- 
ment. Their only distinction is their 
language, which is Slovene. A plebi- 
scite would most justly decide the ques- 
tion. In case the decision should favor 
Italy, a right of way for Austria to the 
Adriatic with Trieste as an interna- 



PEACE TERMS 23 

tional city should be arranged, as every 
nation should if possible have access to 
the sea. 

The Jugo-Slavs of Croatia, Slavonia, 
Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and 
Montenegro are sufficiently one in lan- 
guage and political temperament to 
guarantee national stability. They are a 
Slavic people, and the physical features 
of their home are homogeneous enough, 
with the aid of a common language and 
temperament, to enable them to develop 
into a strong, independent nation. 
Italy's claims, especially on the Dalma- 
tian coast, must be carefully and sym- 
pathetically considered, but it must be 
remembered that there are eight times 
as many Slavs as Italians on the eastern 
shores of the Adriatic. 

Albania is populated by an Aryan 
people and speaks a language (Skip) 
which has very little in common with 
that either of the Jugo-Slavs or of the 
Greeks. The position is an independent 



24 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

one between Jugo-Slavonia and Greece. 
Yet there is no national feeling among 
them. They have no common aim, but 
they are intolerant of any alien author- 
ity. In short, they have not yet com- 
pletely passed out of the nomad into the 
agricultural stage. But their linguistic 
and geographical conditions warrant a 
state of independence, and with the 
passage of time and sympathetic guid- 
ance they can easily be conceived of as 
developing into a strong and independ- 
ent nation. At any rate it would be a 
mistake to force them under the control 
either of Jugo-Slavonia or of Greece 
or yet of Italy. An oversight by Italy 
as the nearest strong nation may be 
arranged with a view to later inde- 
pendence. 

To Greece by all the rights of lan- 
guage, politics, and history belong Crete 
and certain islands near the coast of 
Asia Minor. It is, however, question- 
able whether the geographical position 



PEACE TERMS 25 

of the islands on the coast of Asia Minor 
should allow them to belong to Greece. 
They are so closely bound up with the 
life of Asia Minor, that only a plebiscite 
of the natives ought to decide their des- 
tiny. But a large part of Macedonia, 
stretching far eastward into present 
Bulgarian territory, belongs by reason 
and justice to Greece. The boundary 
line between Bulgaria and Greece would 
have to be carefully considered. 

Bulgaria must be bounded on the 
north by the Danube, on the west by the 
territory of Jugo-Slavonia— a boundary 
line which can easily be made on a phys- 
ical basis— on the east by the Black Sea, 
but on the south its rights must be 
weighed over against those of both 
Greece and Turkey. 

The Roumanians are a Latin people, 
and therefore distinct from their imme- 
diate neighbors. After many years of 
subjugation to the Turks, Roumania has 
in recent years, as a result of successive 



26 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

rebellions, grown into an independent 
nation. But its national boundaries do 
not yet extend sufficiently far to include 
all Roumanians. In Roumania itself 
are about seven million people, but just 
beyond the borders of the present king- 
dom are three million other Roumanians 
who are anxious to join their country- 
men in a greater Roumania. 

Linguistically, not only Transylvania 
but also Bessarabia should be included 
in the country of Roumania. There are 
no geographical obstacles, and all the 
conditions that go to foster political and 
historical unity are present. A portion 
of the Dobruja, say Silistria, for the 
same reason, will probably have to be 
joined to Bulgaria. The boundary 
should be made with sympathy and care, 
as also the boundaries between Transyl- 
vania and Hungary and between Bessa- 
rabia and Russia. 

The Czecho-Slovaks, very completely 
separated by Austria and Hungary 



PEACE TERMS 27 

from their kinsmen, the Jugo-Slavs, 
should form an independent nation. It 
should include the present territory of 
Bohemia and Moravia. The greatest 
difficulty in connection with the possible 
independence of this Czecho-Slovak 
nation is that it would have no access to 
the sea, a condition which President 
Wilson feels is so necessary. Another 
possible solution, which should be de- 
cided by a plebiscite, would be the estab- 
lishment of the independent equality of 
Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria into a 
confederation, with possibly Illyria and 
Carniola, all forming an Empire or a 
United States. 

A similar difficulty presents itself in 
connection with Euthenia. Euthenians 
are Slavs, and most akin to the Little 
Eussians. Hungary likewise presents a 
difficulty. The inhabitants, who are 
Magyars and Asiatic in origin, form a 
linguistic unit. Perhaps Hungary, 
Euthenia, Moravia, and Bohemia could 



28 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

be formed into a confederation with 
Austria. Linguistically we have in this 
combination four separate nations ; his- 
torically Bohemia is a distinct nation- 
ality, as are also Austria and Hungary. 
Bohemia also has a keen sense of sep- 
arate nationality. But geographical^ 
they all form a unit, and access to the 
sea could be procured by way of Trieste. 
Most doubt exists as to the destiny of 
Ruthenia, but as in the case of Carniola 
and Illyria a plebiscite would decide 
whether it should unite with Little 
Russia, or with the Austrian confeder- 
acy, or stand alone. The one thing 
which future statesmen should make 
certain is that each of these states should 
be free and equal, and a confederation 
should be encouraged. 

Lloyd George has just declared that 
genuine self-government on true demo- 
cratic principles must be granted to 
those Austro-Hungarian nationalities 
who have long desired it. And Presi- 



PEACE TERMS 29 

dent Wilson says that autonomous de- 
velopment must be accorded to the peo- 
ples of Austria-Hungary. That would 
be brought about by due regard to the 
determinants of nationality. 

The head of the confederation already 
referred to would be Austria. But she is 
a Teutonic nation, distinct in every way 
from Hungary, and different from Bo- 
hemia, Moravia, Ruthenia, Illyria, and 
Carniola in language and history. If the 
problem of access to the sea could other- 
wise be solved the most natural combi- 
nation of these states would be : a union 
of Austria with Germany with which it 
is closely related ; the erection of a sep- 
arate nation of Hungary ; the combina- 
tion of Bohemia and Moravia into one 
state ; the union of Ruthenia with Little 
Russia ; and the combination of Illyria 
and Carniola under the protection of 
Austria as a part of the German Em- 
pire, or, most appropriately, their 
union with Italy. 



30 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

The problem of the partition of the 
Austro-Hungarian Empire is a difficult 
one, but a necessity to the stability of 
Europe. If the work can be accom- 
plished with due regard to the condi- 
tions of language, geography, politics, 
and history, the result will be lasting. 

At last, statesmen have uttered the 
name of Poland. From 1863, when the 
Polish question had for the fourth time 
brought Europe to the verge of war, 
until now, rulers have not dared to raise 
this difficult question. Poland, once a 
mighty nation, is now nothing but a 
problem— but a problem which must be 
solved if a just and lasting peace is to 
ensue. 

Geographically, Poland is hard to 
define. There is a strange lack of de- 
termining boundaries on both east and 
west, but it should extend from the Bal- 
tic in the north to the Carpathians on 
the south. However, linguistically, po- 
litically, and historically, Poland is a 



PEACE TERMS 31 

unit. She desires national indepen- 
dence, and it should be accorded her. 
Her restoration should be complete. 
Prussia must give up her Polish lands ; 
Galicia must be restored by Austria; 
and Russia has already promised to give 
up that portion of Poland which is 
within her boundaries. 

There are over twenty million Poles, 
and they should govern themselves. 
Their outlet to the sea will naturally be 
the old Polish city of Danzig. If resto- 
ration be brought about, the Niobe of 
nations will once more be a flourishing 
state, capable of taking its place in the 
great procession of independent modern 
nations. 

There is a group of small provinces 
on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic 
Sea which need adjustment. They are : 
Lithuania, Kurland, Esthonia, and Li- 
vonia. The people of Lithuania, Kur- 
land, and Livonia are Aryans, while 
those of Esthonia are Finns. Geograph- 



32 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

ically, they are a unit; linguistically 
there are two groups; but historically 
and politically only the Lithuanians are 
conscious of any distinct national de- 
sires. They may be erected into four 
independent states in the Eussian con- 
federation, or into a separate confeder- 
ation of southern Baltic States. 

Finland was transferred to Eussia in 
1809, but linguistically, geographically, 
and historically she is a unit, and should 
form an independent nation. Eussia 
has already shown indications of recog- 
nizing her independence, and Sweden 
has welcomed her as a sovereign people. 
No valid argument can be discovered 
against the freedom of Finland. All the 
determinants of nationality are present, 
and the people have a strong sense of 
national independence. It was only the 
power of Sweden first, and then that of 
Eussia, which has held her in bondage 
up till now. She has already been wel- 
comed into the company of free nations, 



PEACE TERMS 33 

and the world peace will have no diffi- 
culty in recognizing her place. 

About Sweden, Norway, and Holland 
there is no question of integrity. Inter- 
national frontiers are well defined, and 
future international agreement should 
be such as to cause these countries no 
alarm. 

But with Denmark the case is differ- 
ent. The provinces of Schleswig and 
Holstein belonged to Denmark previous 
to 1866, when they were annexed to 
Prussia. According to our criteria 
Schleswig belongs rightly to Denmark 
and should be restored to her. But Hol- 
stein is linguistically, politically, and 
historically a part of Germany. It will 
probably be difficult to settle the geo- 
graphical frontiers between Denmark 
and Germany, but they should follow as 
closely as possible the lines of language 
and history. A plebiscite would un- 
doubtedly give Holstein to Germany and 
Schleswig to Denmark. 



34 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

Whatever the fortunes of war may be, 
German territory will remain intact. 
The Allies do not intend to interfere 
with that. Both Lloyd George and Wil- 
son emphatically declare that no one 
wants to disrupt the German confeder- 
acy. The German provinces, of course, 
excepting Schleswig, Lorraine, and Al- 
sace, form a perfect unit, linguistically, 
geographically, politically, and histori- 
cally. There is a keen sense of national- 
ity, although, perhaps, an exaggerated 
and unjust one. The German people 
will be accorded the same power of 
self-determination as all others whether 
small or great. Their political institu- 
tions will not be interfered with by 
foreign nations, but they will be com- 
pelled to assume the same attitude 
toward others. They will not be per- 
mitted to retain in subjection any na- 
tions which demand freedom, nor will 
they be allowed to assume control of any 
independent nation against its will. 



PEACE TERMS 35 

Austria may elect to become a state in 
the German confederacy, and so may 
Holstein, Luxemburg, and Moreset ; but 
Lorraine and Alsace, Schleswig and Po- 
land, must be given their freedom unless 
by a plebiscite the peoples of these 
provinces freely decide to remain in the 
German confederation. 

In the British Isles there is one dis- 
cordant note— Ireland. A plebiscite in 
Scotland and Wales would show how 
truly they are in accord with England, 
the leader of the confederacy. All the 
determinants of nationality combine to 
strengthen the union of England, Scot- 
land, and Wales into one nationality. 
Further proof of the unity of these 
states is unnecessary. 

Linguistically, politically, and histor- 
ically Ireland belongs to the same group. 
This is likewise true geographically, for 
rivers and seas do not form impassable 
national barriers. Moreover the secur- 
ity of Ireland is bound up physically 



36 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

with that of Great Britain. The chief 
cause of irritation in Ireland is con- 
fessedly religion. But a study of 
the unity of the United States or of that 
of the German Empire or of that of 
Serbia will show that religion cannot be 
used as a criterion of nationality. Ire- 
land's irritant keeps cropping out in 
Quebec. But both Ireland and Quebec 
are so essentially bound up with their 
neighboring provinces and countries 
that it is questionable whether even 
a plebiscite should be allowed to sepa- 
rate them. Would the United States 
agree to the secession of, say, Massa- 
chusetts? If so, it is conceivable that 
Canada would agree to a secession of 
Quebec, or Great Britain to a secession 
of Ireland. 

Ireland must be given Home Eule. 
She must be as free as Scotland or 
Wales, but the determinants of nation- 
ality render a verdict in favor of her 
remaining in union with Great Britain. 



PEACE TERMS 37 

An objection may be made to a com- 
parison of the relationship of Massachu- 
setts to the United States with that of 
Ireland to Great Britain. It may be 
said that the Irish are a different race. 
Even if this were so, we must remember 
that race is no criterion of nationality, 
as we have already seen ; and, further- 
more, the Irish are not a pure race. 
But while the Irish are different in chief 
racial characteristics from the English, 
they are not different in this respect 
from the Welsh and Scotch. Even raci- 
ally, an impartial student would place 
Ireland in the same national group as 
Wales and Scotland, which are already 
closely united with England. 

As soon as Ireland learns the lesson of 
religious freedom there will be no ques- 
tion about her place in the British con- 
federation. There are signs that point 
to this consummation. The Eoman 
Catholics of the south, though having 
the numerical advantage, should not 



38 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

attempt to force their will upon the 
Protestants of the north, who, though 
inferior in number, are admittedly 
superior in human development. Ire- 
land is not a unit in political thought, 
and until she is, the constraining criteria 
of national life will bind her to Great 
Britain. 

Eussian stability is a necessity to 
European peace, especially western 
Russia. Now that the Empire is over- 
thrown, it is difficult to predict what the 
final outcome in Russia will be. The 
Great and Little Russians, by all the 
criteria of nationality, belong together. 
It is possible that two independent na- 
tions may be formed, but linguistically, 
geographically, politically, and histor- 
ically, they are one. 

Siberia may be formed into a separate 
nation, as also other portions of eastern 
Russia, but this question lies outside our 
present interest. Russia, however, must 
give up Finland, Poland, and perhaps 



PEACE TERMS 39 

Bessarabia, Livonia, Esthonia, Kurland, 
and Lithuania. Let us hope that Russia 
will develop into a great democratic 
nation or confederation of nations, 
whose weight will be placed into the 
balance of a just and lasting peace. 

As to Turkey, let it be remembered 
that there is no such thing as a Moham- 
medan criterion of nationality. Turkey 
is not a nation because it is Mohamme- 
dan, any more than the United States is 
a nation because it is Christian. Reli- 
gion does not make a nation. There are 
more Mohammedans outside of Turkey 
than in it. The assumption of the Cali- 
phate by the Sultan of Turkey is a viola- 
tion of religious rights. The Sultan is 
no more the head of the Mohammedan 
Church than King George is of the An- 
glican Church or Emperor Charles is of 
the Roman Catholic Church. He may 
assume the role of protector, but that 
is a different matter. Religiously, Mo- 
hammedans have long demanded a sev- 



40 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

erance of the Mohammedan Caliphate 
from the Turkish Sultanate, and very 
recently, in June 1916, Hussain, the 
Grand Sherif of Mecca, has declared 
his independence. The Caliphate be- 
longs to Mecca and not to Constanti- 
nople. But, as we have seen, religion is 
no criterion of nationality. 

By all the laws of nationality, the 
Turks are an independent people and 
nation. They are of mixed race, but so 
are the majority of modern peoples. It 
has been said that Turkey is a theocracy. 
This may be granted. But she is never- 
theless a nation. Her theocratic char- 
acter has been assumed, but her lan- 
guage, geography, politics, and history 
all proclaim her a nation. The Jews 
formed a theocracy, but they were never- 
theless a nation. 

But Turkey has violated the independ- 
ence of other peoples, towards whom she 
has been murderous and tyrannical. 
The Allies realize this and in their reply 



PEACE TERMS 41 

to President Wilson's note, before 
America entered the war, they declare 
for the " liberation of the people who 
now lie beneath the murderous tyranny 
of the Turks, and the expulsion from 
Europe of the Ottoman Empire, which 
has proved itself so radically alien to 
Western civilization" (§8). 

On further reflection the Allies, in- 
cluding America, have modified this 
demand. They still rightly insist upon 
the liberation of enslaved people, but 
they do not stipulate the expulsion of 
Turkey from Europe. Wilson says: 
"The Turkish portion of the present 
Ottoman Empire should be assured a 
secure sovereignty". Notice that he 
says " Turkish portion", assuming the 
need of liberating non-Turkish peoples. 
Lloyd George says: "We do not chal- 
lenge the maintenance of the Turkish 
Empire in the homelands of the Turk- 
ish race with its capital at Constanti- 
nople". Notice the phrase "home- 



42 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

lands", which is equivalent to Wilson's 
" Turkish portion". 

Lloyd George, however, goes a step 
further, namely, in defining Constanti- 
nople as being within Turkish " home- 
lands". The Allies' earlier idea was to 
limit Turkey to Asia Minor, where, ac- 
cording to all the determinants of na- 
tionality, the Turkish nation should find 
a home. But, of course, the strip of 
country on the European side of the Bos- 
phorus is inhabited predominantly by 
Turks, and if Turkey is to retain Con- 
stantinople the surrounding territory 
should be included. 

However, the boundaries of Bulgaria 
and Greece, on the basis of language, 
geography, politics, and history, could 
be extended further south and east. The 
vilayet of Constantinople would remain, 
but in a reduced form. But all the 
Allies demand that the passage between 
the Black Sea and the Mediterranean 
be internationalized and neutralized. 



PEACE TERMS 43 

It is questionable whether the vilayet 
of Constantinople should not be given to 
Greece or to Bulgaria, although the cri- 
teria of nationality are in favor of its 
present owners. At any rate the Bos- 
phorus and the Dardanelles should be 
made international and neutral. 

It is natural that great and strong 
nations should assume or be given the 
oversight of groups of peoples who are 
both weak and undeveloped and who 
have no sense of nationality. It has al- 
ways been so and has usually proved 
beneficial. No one will deny the good 
Great Britain has done in India and 
Egypt and the advantages derived by 
Cuba from the fostering care of the 
United States. But there are limita- 
tions, and one would need to be very 
brave to undertake a defence of the 
Turkish Empire's treatment of her de- 
pendent peoples. On the contrary, it is 
no injustice to say with the Allies in 
their reply to President Wilson's note, 



44 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

that the Ottoman Empire's rule over her 
dependent peoples has been a " murder- 
ous tyranny". The right to exist as a 
free and sovereign nation cannot be de- 
nied to Turkey in spite of her barbar- 
ities. But her rule of " murderous 
tyranny" over other peoples can in no 
possible manner be justified. If her 
rule were beneficial and her subject 
peoples were undeveloped and not ready 
to govern themselves no one would 
dream of interfering. But her rule has 
been tyrannous in the extreme, and 
though her subject peoples have shown 
themselves incapable of self-govern- 
ment they must be removed from under 
her control. 

Armenia should be freed and placed 
under the tutelage of a strong European 
nation till she is capable of self-govern- 
ment. This is necessary in order to 
preserve her from spoliation and disin- 
tegration. All the conditions of nation- 
ality exist in embryo ; but they need to 



PEACE TERMS 45 

be developed. Care should be exercised 
in fixing natural geographical boun- 
daries as clearly as possible, and pro- 
tection should be afforded her till she 
comes of age. The same is true of 
Kurdistan and Syria. Both are nations, 
but in an imperfect state of develop- 
ment. They must be nursed and cared 
for. Their boundaries must be fixed and 
they must be encouraged in self-govern- 
ment. 

Because of the great interest of 
France in Syria, it would be according 
to justice to appoint France the guar- 
dian of these three peoples. France has 
shown herself to be a careful and hu- 
mane ruler of undeveloped peoples, and 
nothing would make more for perma- 
nence among these peoples than the 
guiding and controlling hand of France. 

Palestine is not a nation at all. There 
is not another country like it in the 
whole world. But all the elements of 
nationality are there in undeveloped 



46 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

and unused form, except a people, in the 
strict sense of the term, and a language. 
There can naturally be no nation with- 
out a people. But there is a peculiar 
people scattered among the nations of 
the earth which has never lost its iden- 
tity. It is the Jewish people. Many 
Jews long to see their ancient home, the 
abode of their ancestors, restored to 
them. They would return thither in 
thousands. It is a small country in 
area, and the Jews would soon become 
the predominating population, without 
doing violence to its present inhabitants. 
Palestine is so bound up with religious 
sentiment, Jewish, Christian, and Mo- 
hammedan, that the erection of Pales- 
tine as a neutral country under interna- 
tional protection, with perhaps the 
United States of America in the chair, 
would be most conducive to stability. 
Jewish settlements could be encouraged 
with the hope that a Jewish nation would 
develop and become permanent. But it 



PEACE TERMS 47 

seems that even if Palestine should de- 
velop into a Jewish nation, with all the 
rights and liberties of a nation, never- 
theless a proviso is necessary. Jerusa- 
lem and other towns in Palestine are not 
only Jewish but also Christian and Mo- 
hammedan shrines. Consequently one 
of two things should happen : Palestine 
should be constituted as a permanent 
international and neutral country, gov- 
erned by an international board; or it 
should be restored to the Jewish people, 
at first under international direction, 
but with the idea of gradually develop- 
ing into a nation, provided certain loca- 
tions and shrines, and approaches to 
them, be subject to international con- 
trol. In any case Palestine cannot re- 
turn to the Turk. 

East of Syria and Palestine and south 
of Kurdistan are the regions of Mesopo- 
tamia and Arabia, and west of Arabia is 
Egypt. Great Britain has already ac- 
complished wonders in Egypt. Any one 



48 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

acquainted with the modern history of 
that country knows what strides have 
been made under British rule. No one 
who has the welfare of undeveloped peo- 
ples at heart would ever dream of de- 
siring to see Great Britain give up her 
splendid work. It must be continued. 

The people of Arabia have recently 
proclaimed themselves a separate mon- 
archy under the Grand Sherif of Mecca, 
who has taken the title "King of 
Hedjaz". Arabia, as is well known, is 
not ready for self-government. There, 
as in Egypt, are in embryo all the de- 
terminants of nationality, but they are 
as yet undeveloped. 

The site of the ancient empire of 
Babylonia and Assyria can be made the 
most prosperous country in the world 
with proper care. Turkey has crimi- 
nally neglected this paradise, with the 
result that to-day it is one of the most 
miserable countries in existence. 

The British, who have recently con- 



PEACE TERMS 49 

quered Bagdad, and who have shown 
themselves in India and Egypt to be so 
capable in handling Mohammedan peo- 
ples, should be asked to take both Meso- 
potamia and Arabia under their protec- 
tion. Great Britain has the experience, 
and she has the ability, and if these por- 
tions of the Ottoman Empire are to de- 
velop and grow into self-respecting and 
self-governing peoples no one can lead 
them to that end better than Britain. 

Before a world peace can be brought 
about the status of Germany's colonies 
must be settled. On this score, Presi- 
dent Wilson has just said : i i The inter- 
ests of the populations concerned must 
have equal weight with the equitable 
claims of the government whose title is 
to be determined." Now, no one de- 
mands that France, Belgium, Italy, or 
Great Britain give up their colonies. 
The peoples of these colonies must be 
under the protection of some strong na- 
tion. They are not ready to take the 



50 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

reins into their own hands, and if they 
were deserted they would be at the 
mercy of all the forces of disintegration. 
No, they are in safe keeping. Witness, 
for example, the colonies of Great 
Britain which are gradually being given 
their independence. Newfoundland has 
just been proclaimed a Dominion, Can- 
ada has long ago been such, and Aus- 
tralia is a great Commonwealth. They 
have the right to secede. They possess 
all the determinants of nationality, but 
they prefer to remain, not so much 
under the protection of Great Britain, 
for they are now laying down their 
precious lives to protect her, but asso- 
ciated with her in the great Common- 
wealth of free and equal nations which 
we know as the British Empire. 

But there is a decided question as to 
whether the former colonies of Germany 
should be returned. It would be per- 
fectly safe to apply President Wilson's 
criterion to the former German colonies, 



PEACE TERMS 51 

for, with the exception perhaps of Ger- 
man South East Africa, they would al- 
most to a man vote for their liberation. 
And so would German South East 
Africa if only genuine native-born in- 
habitants be permitted to vote, and if 
the askaris, or German mercenaries, be 
excluded. Even were they included it 
would be safe to guess that a large 
majority would oppose German rule. 

However, it is highly questionable 
whether the native inhabitants of Afri- 
can colonies are in a state of sufficient 
development to make a choice. It is 
not always wise to allow children their 
choice, and many inhabitants of Africa 
are yet but children. 

In South Africa there has been set up 
in a most remarkable manner a great 
free, self-governing nation. A few years 
ago these peoples were at bitter war with 
Great Britain, but now are giving their 
best and their all to her in her fight for 
justice. What Great Britain has done 



52 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

in South Africa has never been paral- 
leled in the history of the world. She 
has proved herself incomparable as a 
colonizing power. On the contrary Ger- 
many is notoriously stupid in her deal- 
ings with colonial people. No greater 
blessing could possibly come to the 
former German colonies in Africa than 
that they be turned over to the genius 
of Great Britain's colonizing power. 
What a triumph to " Darkest Africa" 
if from Egypt to Cape Colony and from 
Kamerun to East Africa there were 
established a great confederation of free 
nations in union with the rest of the 
mighty Commonwealth of Great Brit- 
ain ! This is no dream ; it is the convic- 
tion of many of the greatest minds of 
Great Britain and South Africa. It 
would be a crime to humanity to do any- 
thing which would help to retard or 
prevent this development. Great Brit- 
ain at the peace tables cannot appear too 
insistent upon her claim as conqueror in 



PEACE TERMS 53 

Africa because of the stand which she 
has always taken for freedom and lib- 
erty, and too great concern on her part 
may be interpreted as land-grabbing. 
But the other free nations should see to 
it that her genius in colony building 
should be entrusted with the noble task 
of bringing democracy and liberty to 
Africa. 



IV 

TOWARDS A JUST AND 
LASTING PEACE 

THE essence of autocracy is intoler- 
ance; that of democracy is toler- 
ance. In an autocracy an individual or 
group of individuals undertakes to have 
its own way, and to subject everything 
to its will. In a democracy the govern- 
ment is of the people, by the people, and 
for the people. A democracy must have 
a leader and a government, but they 
will act only with the consent of the 
governed. 

An autocracy has certain inherent ad- 
vantages over a democracy. In an au- 
tocracy a decision can be made more 
rapidly than in a democracy ; action can 



PEACE TERMS 55 

be more concerted ; and laws can be more 
easily enforced. An autocracy is apt to 
be more orderly and systematic than a 
democracy. But the claim of democracy 
to universality consists in its essential 
liberty and justice. Government must 
be by the consent of the governed. 

There are certain things which de- 
mocracy cannot do with the same ease 
as an autocracy, and there are other 
things which it cannot do at all. God 
cannot make a valley without two hills, 
nor can democracy govern without cer- 
tain justified restrictions placed upon 
all. In other words, liberty and license 
must be carefully and clearly differenti- 
ated. Law and order must prevail ; but 
it must be just and the same for all, 
whether governors or governed. In an 
autocracy the voice of one or of a small 
group alone is heard; in a democracy 
every man may speak. 

The new world in which we are to live 
must be a democratic world as far as 



56 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

possible. It should at least be demo- 
cratic as far as international relations 
are concerned. Nothing should be done 
internationally without the consent of 
all nations. But democracy, ideal 
though it be, cannot be forced upon an 
independent nation. Lloyd George has 
well said that Germany's form of gov- 
ernment is a question for the German 
people to decide. If they want an autoc- 
racy no one can forbid it. They can have 
tyrants as rulers if they choose. But 
what other nations will insist upon is 
that Germany act toward other nations 
in an international democratic way. 
This is exactly what the Allies are fight- 
ing for. They intend to establish an 
international democracy, or, in other 
words, an international law which is ab- 
solutely democratic. Then each nation 
will be free to choose its own form of 
government but it will not be free to act 
toward other nations in any other than 
a democratic way. 



PEACE TERMS 57 

The world's greatest and noblest pur- 
pose at this moment is to " achieve a 
righteous end to this war" (Lloyd 
George), and when the statesmen as- 
semble around the table of peace the set- 
tlement which they should have in mind 
is one which must not bear the seed of 
future war. 

But there must be a definite and 
specific purpose in the minds of Allied 
statesmen in their battle of words 
around the peace table. This purpose 
has already been enunciated. As far as 
possible all causes of war must be re- 
moved; in other words, national boun- 
daries must be settled not necessarily in 
accordance with the wish of any one 
nation or group of nations, but accord- 
ing to justice and the determinants of 
nationality. In settling the frontiers of 
nations the following principle, enunci- 
ated by Lloyd George, must be borne in 
mind: " Government with the consent 
of the governed must be the basis of any 



58 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

territorial settlement." In the estab- 
lishment of international law, President 
Wilson's principle must be remem- 
bered: " Justice to all peoples and na- 
tionalities, and their rights to live on 
equal terms of liberty and safety with 
one another, whether they be strong 
or weak"; " unless justice be done to 
others it will not be done to us." Only 
in this way can the sanctity of interna- 
tional treaty be reinstated. There must 
be "no secret understandings of any 
kind" (Wilson) ; everything must be 
open and above board. There must be 
no "most favored" nations, for as 
Lloyd George recently said, speaking 
for Great Britain: "Equality among 
nations, small as well as great, is one of 
the fundamental issues this country and 
her allies are fighting to establish in this 
war." All national aggression must be 
swept away and each nation must be 
allowed to develop within its national 
rights. 



PEACE TERMS 59 

With the end of war will come the 
period of reconstruction. It is then that 
clear heads and true hearts will be 
needed. It is then that there should be 
set on foot that movement which char- 
acterizes the United States of America 
and the British Empire, namely, con- 
federation. The confederation of states 
must expand into the confederation of 
nations. President Wilson has ex- 
pressed the idea in a general way: "A 
general association of nations must be 
formed under specific covenants for the 
purpose of affording mutual guarantees 
of political independence and territorial 
integrity to great and small states 
alike.' ' 

To be more specific: the doctrine of 
united sovereign states, applied by the 
United States of America when the 
Union was formed, and by Great Britain 
in the building up of her empire, must 
be applied internationally. It might well 
begin by a loose confederation of the 



60 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

United States of America and the Brit- 
ish Empire. There need be no change 
in the form of either government, 
but an entente equivalent to a confeder- 
ation might well be established. Into 
this confederacy might come democratic 
France, and Belgium, and Italy. Other 
nations would join, one after another, 
each sovereign in itself, independent and 
self-governing, but recognizing certain 
international agreements which would 
constitute the confederacy. Such a con- 
federation of democratic nations would 
be in itself strong enough to police the 
world in the interest of liberty and 
equality. And it is not beyond reason to 
believe that in time the whole world 
would be brought into this confedera- 
tion of free nations, which would not be 
a British Commonwealth or a United 
States of America, but a United States 
of the World. 

In view of this, certain interesting 
developments may be noted : 



PEACE TERMS 61 

With a confederation of the nations 
of the world, the problem of the freedom 
of the seas and international waterwavs 
would be solved. As long as there re- 
mains an untamed and irresponsible 
nation there can be no such thing as free- 
dom of the seas. This war has surely 
taught that. The seas being seas, it is 
questionable whether their freedom can 
ever be consummated until a world con- 
federation has been established, for as 
long as any one nation refuses to abide 
absolutely by international agreement 
there is danger of her running amuck 
on seas where there naturally can be no 
frontiers. Certain specific waterways, 
however, can be internationalized and 
neutralized, just as easily as the deter- 
mination of certain frontiers. We have 
seen that the Bosphorus and Darda- 
nelles should be internationalized and 
neutralized, especially, for the purpose 
of affording to Russia, Bulgaria, Rou- 
mania, and Armenia a free passage to 



62 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

the sea. The same may be said of 
the Suez Canal, the Kiel Canal, the 
Panama Canal, and the Straits of 
Gibraltar, or any other such passage 
or waterway. This would be settled by 
international agreement. 

Another interesting development may 
ensue as a result of world confederation. 
As we have already often observed, lan- 
guage is the chief determinant of nation- 
ality. In fact, the greatest deterrent to 
internationalization is diversity of lan- 
guage ; it is also a source of much inter- 
national misunderstanding. But on the 
other hand, the love of language is sec- 
ond only to the love of country ; in fact, 
the love of country is inalienably bound 
up with love of language. All that is 
dear and sacred in the feeling of nation- 
ality is stored up in language, and 
language is required to bring it to 
perfection. 

Now, in a world confederation, such 
as that just described, almost every 



PEACE TERMS 63 

nation would speak its own language. 
While this would be a source of some 
difficulty, it should not be discouraged 
because of the close bond between lan- 
guage and nationality. But there could 
be established by international agree- 
ment an official language by means of 
which all international business would 
be conducted. This language should be 
a living one, preferably English, because 
of the probable great majority of Eng- 
lish-speaking states in the first stages of 
the confederacy. Thus, most people in 
time would become bilingual; each na- 
tion using its own language, but capable 
of speaking the official and international 
tongue. And it is not altogether Uto- 
pian to believe that in the far distant 
future the whole world may be brought 
to speak one language. This in itself 
would be the means of preventing count- 
less causes of international irritation; 
it would be the source of mutual under- 
standing; it would form a common 



64 ALLIED AND AMERICAN 

object of love; and it would help to 
translate national love into terms of 
world love. 

Finally, the meaning of this world 
crisis should be considered. A bird's- 
eye view of the whole history of man- 
kind upon this planet will show a re- 
markable fact about the developments 
of human society. It will teach us that 
the earliest unit of social life, among 
primitive peoples, was the family. 
Everything centered in that unit. With 
the development of the race, groups of 
related families formed clans; then, 
groups of clans formed tribes, and, fin- 
ally, groups of tribes amalgamated into 
nations. This is where we are to-day. 
Human society at the present time is 
made up of a group of nations. Anthro- 
pologists and historians assure us that 
this is how ?^man society has developed. 
But is that the last step? Surely not. 
The next step may take thousands of 
years, just as each step in the past took 



PEACE TERMS 65 

many centuries, but it will certainly be 
made. 

We are witnessing the birth pangs of 
a new world order, namely, internation- 
alism. The step human society is now 
girding up its loins to take is the group- 
ing of nations into a world system, into 
internationalism. This will fulfil the 
eternal principle of unity. Scientists 
tell us of the unity of humanity ; evolu- 
tionists tell us how this unity gradually 
came about; and philosophers tell us 
that suffering is one of the fundamental 
conditions of development. All these 
elements are observable in the present 
world conflict. We are witnessing the 
beginning of a new era. 

The determinants of nationality have 
been seen to be language, geography, 
politics, and history. In a developed 
form they will become th', r leterminants 
of internationalism. The next step in 
human development will witness the 
growth of a world language, wlrch will 



66 PEACE TERMS 

become as dear to the human heart as 
any one language of the past had be- 
come to any one nation. National geog- 
raphy will develop into world geogra- 
phy, and " national barriers" and "the 
freedom of the seas" will become merely 
interesting historical relics. World 
politics will be the order of the day, when 
the great Commonwealth of Nations is 
established. And national history will 
be interesting only as a means of tracing 
out the evolution of human society from 
its primitive to its more developed form. 
Then, diversity will become unity, na- 
tionalism will become internationalism, 
and a just and lasting peace will be 
realized. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pre 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxid( 
Treatment Date: ..... op* 

PreservationTechnolo 

A WORLD LEADER IN. PAPER PRESERV 

111 Thomson Park Drive 



r.: Y0F C0 NGRESS 




